Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Walsall Anarchists and West Midlands Police

– a personal experience of using the “Freedom of Information Act” to research anarchist history
                                                                                                    by Christopher Draper


In 1892 four Walsall anarchists were imprisoned for a bomb plot orchestrated by Auguste Coulon, a police agent-provocateur. Although the police and trial judge conspired to conceal Coulon’s role he subsequently boasted of his involvement to reporters. For over a century the Metropolitan Police refused to disclose details of its part in securing conviction until in 2001 there was a breakthrough. Despite claims that all relevant documents had either been lost or destroyed a serving police officer seeking early retirement and academic respectability was granted access to hitherto hidden Special Branch files to complete his PhD: ”Three “Special Account” books, each measuring 160mm by 200mm, and printed into five columns per page. They detail, among other items, what appears to be the cash amounts paid out to individual informants. In all, approximately six thousand individual entries span a total of the twenty four years from 1888 to 1912”.


These files revealed Coulon was paid almost £1,000 by the Metropolitan Police (and incidentally also revealed the previously unsuspected involvement of a second police agent in a separate high-profile “anarchist-terrorist conspiracy). This initiative prompted me to wonder whether the Walsall anarchists’ local police force might similarly be sitting on undisclosed evidence so in September 2017 I made a formal FOI request to West Midlands Police (WMP) for copies of documents relating to this 1892 case. It has taken almost 1½ years for that simple enquiry to be concluded and in the hope that it might amuse, enlighten and encourage fellow researchers I’ve recorded details of my quest.


My initial FOI was emailed to WMP on 4.9.2017. WMP replied on 12.9.2017 suggesting I instead contact their ”Heritage Project” adding, Can I please ask you to confirm that you are happy for this request to be withdrawn under the FOI Act?”  I responded by refusing to withdraw and insisting on a formal FOI response. The law allows 20 working days for an FOI response so on 7.10.2017 I reminded WMP, ”After 25 working days you are yet to comply. It is regrettable that a Police Authority should demonstrate such little regard for the law…”


I received a substantive response on 9.10.2017 declaring my FOI “Vexatious” which technically means it would take them too much effort and consequently cost more than the nominal £450 the Act allows to supply the information I requested (WMP later suggested my request was also vexatious in the non-technical sense as I was impertinent). “The information that we hold in respect of your request is a very old, large, fragile and very rare document. It is not suitable for scanning and therefore we would have to investigate the provision of specialised services in order to supply an electronic copy to you. This would be costly and burdensome.”


WMP had whetted my appetite – they’d revealed they held a relevant old and rare document. At this point FOI inquirers can either accept the brush-off or if they choose to persevere must request an authority reviews its own FOI decision. On 18.10.2017 I did the latter, pointing out to WMP that historic documents are nowadays digitally photographed in situ with minimal handling or cost. On 13.11.2017 WMP’s internal review conceded, “You suggested that the documents could simply be photographed… this is a sensible suggestion”!  Then WMP went on to explain that as their resulting photographs weren’t clear enough “to be certain that there was not any harmful information in the documents”  it would require further time, effort and cost to satisfactorily censor the information. WMP’s response was peppered throughout with technical references to various clauses and sub clauses of FOI legislation (sections 8/1c, 12, 14, 14/1, 23, 31 etc), not forgetting “Section 38 (health and safety)”! What all this amounted to was as far as WMPI was concerned I was getting nothing.


I read hundreds of pages of FOI legislation and precedents to escalate to the next stage, an appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Of course the ICO comes at it cold so it is up the applicant to gather all relevant communications and present a coherent case to challenge the combined expertise of a public authority – a demanding and time consuming business, but in for a penny…


My 25.11.2017 appeal to ICO rested on two main grounds, firstly it was not credible that WMP did not have expert photographers at hand to efficiently produce excellent copies of the historic document and so it could not fairly cite “vexation” as grounds for withholding information. Secondly I argued that full disclosure was in the Public Interest. Of course I had to play the game of citing specific clauses and precedents and supplying supporting documents. Five months later I received the ICO’s 17.4.2018 Decision Notice, “The Commissioner’s decision is that the request was not vexatious and so section 14(1) was relied on incorrectly. WMP is now required to issue a fresh response to the request… WMP must take these steps within 35 calendar days… failure to comply may be dealt with as a contempt of court”. Now the ball was firmly in WMP’s court, would it hand over the contents of the 1892 document or appeal over the head of ICO to the mysterious “First-tier Tribunal”?


Thirty-four days later (21.05.2018) WMP responded, “We have considered the above judgement and although we do not agree with the conclusions drawn by the Information Commissioner, we have made the decision not to take this case to the Information Tribunal.” WMP explained that its substantive response would be further delayed whilst it applied a “Public Interest Test” on what precisely it would disclose. Unfortunately this further delay is permitted by the FOI Act.


On 16.6.2018 WMP emailed copies of all 57 handwritten pages of the large (300mm X 250mm) bound volume with the title “WALSALL ANARCHIST TRIAL 1892” embossed on the cover, a document containing almost 20,000 words of “evidence”. After ten months this was a huge advance but the contents had been censored by almost 300 redactions so on 25.6.2018 I requested another WMP internal review.


On 20.7.2018 that review conceded much of my case, restored almost 90% of the redactions (posting me paper photocopies) yet maintained that the name of the agent-provocateur should continue to be withheld along with the addresses of those involved in the prosecution. This despite the fact that Coulon’s name had been in the public realm for over a century and one of the redacted addresses, “238 Stafford Street”, the home of Joe Deakin, was marked by a “Walsall Anarchist Blue Plaque” erected in 1989 by the local authority.


On 11.8.2018 I contacted ICO to contest WMP’s reliance on sections 30/2 (informants' names) and 40/2 (witness addresses) in retaining 39 redactions. Five months later, on 17.1.2019 ICO ruled “that WMP was entitled to rely on section 30/2b to withhold information but that section 40/2 was not engaged”. Consequently WMP were directed to disclose all redacted addresses but permitted to withhold any mention of Coulon and they had just 28 calendar days to comply, appeal to the “Tribunal” or risk Contempt of Court. Twenty-five days later I received full disclosure of thirty addresses and I filled in the few redactions of Coulon’s name myself!




I’m sifting through this new evidence and will write more of the Walsall Anarchists in due course but I’m pleased with the FOI outcome. In a future post I’ll reveal the shocking fate of the Special Branch files and the officer who uncovered them and draw lessons on the workings of the FOI Act. In the meantime I’m just about to launch a new FOI seeking information about an intriguing anarchist artefact exhibited in 1889 in the Metropolitan Police’s “Black Museum”…





Monday, February 18, 2019

First World War: Update on Information from IWM

Further to message of last March, posted here, this is the latest on 'Lives of the First World War':

One month to go
The Lives of the First World War website will be closed from 12.01am on Tuesday 19 March 2019.

We will not be able to accept any further contributions of material after this time. We encourage you to read our FAQs for further details. All Lives of the First World War URLs will be redirected temporarily to a holding page, until we launch the permanent digital memorial on iwm.org.uk in June 2019.

Stay in touch and keep informed on our Twitter and Facebook channels.

Last chance: Support Forum
To allow the Lives of the First World War team time to process your requests before the site closes, we will be closing the Support Forum on the following dates:
  • Requests for merges will be accepted until 5.00pm on Monday 11 March 2019
  • Requests for creating new stories will be accepted until 5.00pm on Friday 15 March 2019
  • Questions or comments in the Feedback and Discussion forum will be monitored until 5.00pm on Friday 15 March 2019 
Here are five ways of adding to Lives of the First World War over the next month:
  • Remember a Life Story
  • Add facts about an individual’s life, such as family, civilian and military experiences
  • Scan and upload images of photographs, documents and artefacts
  • Share anecdotes that have been passed down through the family
  • Update Communities that you have started *
*Please note that Communities that have fewer than 2 stories in them after 18 March 2019, will be deleted.

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Laying down their arms
Evidently, as the mainstream memorialisation falls out of fashion and dwindles as above, it will be up to radical historians to continue remembering into 2019 and after the many ways in which the war was prolonged after the Armistice, as in, for example:

The hidden story of Soldiers' Mutinies, Strikes and Riots
https://leftfootforward.org/2014/08/ww1-the-hidden-story-of-soliders-mutinies-strikes-and-riots/ -
In 1919, Britain came close to a workers' and soldiers' uprising. But it’s not a story the official WW1 commemoration wants to highlight.


Conscientious Objectors
http://archive.ppu.org.uk/coproject/coww1a.html -
In May 1919 the longest-serving prisoners began to be released; the last CO left prison in August. Many found that no-one wanted to employ them. Those who hadn't done alternative or non-combatant service were deprived of their votes for five years (though this wasn't always strictly enforced).






Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Another hidden Mutiny? 'COs' and the RAMC in Egypt in 1918-19

For many conscientious objectors (COs) the war was not over in November 1918, any more than it was for vast numbers of men awaiting demobilisation from the armed forces. Valuable work has been done by radical historians on the mutinies and soldiers' strikes of 1919 (as well as on mutinies during the hostilities), while peace activists have not forgotten the 'two-year' men still stuck in prison months after the Armistice. One little-known story which brings the two strands together concerns what was happening in the British forces in Egypt from the summer of 1918 through into 1919, the details of which are yet to be researched.

The EEF (Egyptian Expeditionary Force)
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Army formation that conducted campaigns in Sinai, Palestine and Syria during 1916-18, and its battlefield successes played a prominent role in the destruction of the Ottoman Empire in the Levant.  
In March-April 1919, a large bulk of the EEF was committed to the suppression of the Egyptian Revolution, restoring control through the liberal use of force. The shift from wartime operations to post-war imperial policing proved unpopular with the EEF’s rank and file as it delayed their demobilisation, leading to large-scale unrest in many units in May 1919. Following the rapid demobilisation of most of its British and Anzac units the remnants of the EEF, by then largely an Indian army formation, acted as an army of occupation in the former Ottoman Levant until mid-1921, being replaced by the new civil authorities of the Syrian and Palestinian mandates.
 - James E. Kitchen, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

The RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps)
http://www.ramc-ww1.com/ramc_in_war.php

"At the outbreak of the Great War, just 16 years after its formation, there were 9,000 Warrant Officers and Men of the RAMC; this grew to 113,000 by 1918. The British Army had never before fielded a field ambulance in conflict... 
"It has been documented that on the Western front alone, the wounded that returned to the firing line, represented a manpower saved of 1,600,000. It has been acknowledged that this enormous amount of men conserved to fight again was almost enough to turn the scale of war in the British Armies['] favour."
"The RAMC was not a fighting force but its members saw the full horror of the war... Warrant Officers and men performed their duties unarmed...


The Non-Fighting Volunteers 

The 17,426 records on the Pearce Register include the names of many men (and a few women) who were not, strictly speaking, COs in the sense of having been accorded that status, or claimed it, on the grounds, 'F', of having a conscientious objection to participation in the war, within the meaning of the Military Service Acts of 1916 and after. Some were not subject to conscription but supported the resistance of those who were; some were driven by conscience to take a principled stand, with its attendant risks, when they realised what their participation involved; some volunteered early for non-combatant service before anyone was conscripted. At least 11 men, most or all in the latter categories, found themselves court-martialled and sentenced to hard labour in Egypt in 1918.

These records came to attention as a result of a keyword search for 'Walthamstow', not the home area in these cases, as it turned out, but the place where volunteers enlisted in the 3rd East Anglian Field Ambulance (RAMC). A striking similarity of phrasing became noticeable, on the lines of "CM (Court Martial) for refusing to take up a weapon" in the RAMC, in Egypt, in June-July 1918. Further searching using 'Gabbari' (prison) and 'Kantara' (base) found those similar details in more cases. 

Names and Extracts edited from the records 

John Byrne 12406 (Soldier Number*)  RAMC 'a soldier of the Regular Forces', in Egypt, Kantara 
30.7.18 refused to take up a rifle
FGCM (Field General Court Martial) 5.8.18 - 2yrs. HL (with hard labour)
Gabbari MP (Military Prison)
Reference to FGCM (Court Martial) in Harold Ingram NA/WO363 - on line
* Also 12480, Royal Irish. Medal card (TNA - http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/)

Harold Edward Humphreys  7337876* 14 Sackville Gdns. The Drive, Ilford  
(At) Walthamstow, joined up 12.5.15 3rd East Anglian Field Ambulance
RAMC Kantara, Egypt 
CM Egypt 25.7.18 for refusing to take up a weapon 
- 5yrs.Penal Servitude, commuted.to 2yrs. 
Gabbari Military Prison, Egypt, 25.7.18 to 28.10.18 
Sentence suspended on authority of letter from GHQ dated 24.10.18
After release, compulsory transfer to 1/5 Bn. Essex Regiment. 
Demob.5.10.19 Re-enlisted in RAMC 24.6.21   
*(Also nos. 2408 in 1915; 253273 in 1919; 7337876 in 1921.) 
A panoramic view of Kantara base, Egypt
Harold Ingram 253274 (1919) Grimsby  Watchmaker  b.1895  United Methodist 
RAMC enlisted at Grimsby 23.11.14, Notts and Derby Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance (RAMC)
Posted to EEF (Egypt) Kantara 30.7.18 refused to take up a rifle 
FGCM 5.8.18 - 2yrs.HL 
Gabbari MP - unexpired portion of sentence suspended 4.9.19  
WO363 image online (on right).
Demob. 8.9.19     Also 204 in 1914 and 416099 on Smith file.
(His brother Edward William Ingram also enlisted in the RAMC. He was returned to it as a CO after an earlier 'transfer', but was only in Egypt for 5-6 weeks in early 1919).

E (B) Smith  68725  RAMC - 'a soldier in the regular forces' 
90th Battalion Field Artillery RAMC
Kantara 30.7.18 refused to take up a rifle; FGCM 5.8.18 - 2yrs.HL 
Gabbari MP (Military Prison); 
Reference to FGCM (Court Martial) in Harold Ingram NA/WO363 as above 

(Note: Ingram and Smith 'refused' on the same day and were court-martialled together. Recurring dates will be observed elsewhere in the list).

Archibald George Mori  63557/253157 49 St.Mary's Rd. Ilford  Baptist  Bookbinder
Attested* 8.5.15, Walthamstow, 3rd East Anglian Field Ambulance, RAMC, Egypt EEF 
Kantara CM for refusing to take up arms, 25.7.18 
- 5yrs.Penal Servitude com. to 2yrs
Citadel Military Prison, Egypt; transferred to Maidstone CP (Civil Prison).
Transferred to Essex Regiment 6.7.18.  Discharged and released 9.7.19 
* 'Attested' means he indicated willingness to join the forces if called up, although he may well have intended this to be conditional..The vast majority of COs were 'Not attested'.

Norman Harris Stafford  69915 NCF (No-Conscription Fellowship)  
Grocer's assistant  Hyde, Cheshire  Corporal RAMC, 1/7 R.Welsh Fusiliers
RAMC (EEF) Egypt
CM Kantara 24.7.18 for refusing to take up a rifle - 5yrs.Penal Servitude, com. to 2yrs.
Gabbari Military Prison, Cairo, serving 1st sentence 9.5.19
Died in Egypt after arrest but not in prison; buried in Port Said Memorial Cemetery
93103 in 1919. Medal.
(His brother Wilfrid Malins Stafford was a CO, acknowledged to be 'genuine', who served time in prison and work camps.)

Joseph William Tanter477202 West Ham  Milkman 
Volunteered 23.9.14, Walthamstow, 3(R) East Anglian Field Ambulance
RAMC Egypt (EEF) CM 25.7.18 for refusing to take up a weapon 
- 5yrs.Penal Servitude, com. to 2yrs. 
Gabbari Military Prison 26.8.18 to 8.2.19  Sentence suspended
Discharged from prison. Illness, dysentery, to Gabbari prison hospital 7.12.18 to 8.1.19
Sentence suspended, transferred to Essex Regiment. 
To guard duty at Heliopolis POW camp and waived his right to an early Demob. 
Discharged 21.4.20.  (Also nos. 2204, 253276). Medal.
  
Douglas Hasler Thorn  424621 Civil service clerk  Clapham  
Volunteered 12.5.15 Chelsea Barracks
RAMC Egypt (EEF) CM 24.7.18 for refusing to take up a weapon 
- 5yrs.Penal Servitude, com. to 2yrs
Gabbari Military Prison, discharged 18.1.19 to London Regiment.
Transfer to London Regiment, working as an Education Instructor. 
Illness, contracted malaria, May 1919; Invalided to UK from Alexandria 4.1.20
Demob.5.3.20 - Disability (aggravated) due to his army service.
 (Middle name may be transcribed as 'Haster' on some records.)  

Frederick Thomas Tiller 0394  Okehampton  RAMC Egypt (EEF) 
Transferred to 1/4 Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, 
CM 6.6.18 for refusing to take up a weapon - 1yr.HL (With hard labour)
Gabbari MP, Alexandria, died there 30.3.19
Buried at Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery (image below).  
Q in H  (Question in Parliament) 14.5.19   Grave & Medal. Also nos, 66665, 67189.
(The case being raised in Parlaiment may have had a bearing on his shorter sentence)

The alleged offences of the remaining two are not specified, but the date, location and outcome of their court martial strongly suggest that they fit the same pattern.

Ernest Norman Johnson  Soiuthport  RAMC with EEF, Egypt
Transferred to 1/6 R. Welsh Fusiliers, CM (Court Martial) 6.6.18 - 2yrs.HL
Gabbari MP (Military Prison), Alexandria, died there 26.10.18
Buried at Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery  
QinH  14-5-19 (see below)
GBM/CWGC/ROLLOFHONOUR/000502439

Charles W Kapeller  2211/6/14566 Bow  b.1896  'India rubber man'  
RAMC with EEF in Egypt, transferred to 2/19 London
CM (Court Martial) 6.6.18 - 2yrs.HL 
Gabbari MP (Military Prison), Alexandria 
Q in H 6.11.18  

Questions in the House 

Among the many questions posed by concerned MPs about the treatment of opponents of the war were the following, about three of the above.

6-11-18  Oral Answers to Questions. Food Supplies: Gabbari Military Prison, Egypt
HC Deb 06 November 1918 vol 110 cc2097-8
30. Mr. KING 
asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that Private C. W. Kapeller, No. 477205, Royal Army Medical Corps, now in Gabbari prison, Alexandria, Egypt, enlisted in September, 1914, as a non-combatant, went through the Gallipoli campaign as a stretcher bearer, later was fourteen months a stretcher bearer in Egypt, and did duty at the 65th casualty clearing station in Palestine; is he aware that on 23rd February, 1918, this man was sent to Cairo against his will for Infantry training, and was there threatened with trial and the death penalty for mutiny; why was the man after two years and nine months in the firing line court-martialled and imprisoned; whether he is aware that a promise had been made to his parent that Private Kapeller should be sent home; and why has that promise not been carried out?
Mr. MACPHERSON 
I am making inquiry into this case, and I will write to my hon. Friend as soon as possible.
------------------------------------
14-5-19  Oral Answers to Questions: Gabbari Prison, Alexandria
HC Deb 14 May 1919 vol 115 c1577
30. Colonel WEDGWOOD 
asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will have investigations made into the treatment in Gabbari Prison, Alexandria, of men who had volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps and refused transference to combatant units; whether he will give the dates of the death of Private N. Johnson and Private Tiller in this prison; what was the cause of their death; whether they were treated according to the regulations of the prison; and whether he will state the number of men who have died in this prison since January, 1917? 
Captain GUEST 
This matter is being inquired into, and I will communicate with my hon. and gallant Friend as soon as I know the result. 
Questions that Remain 

It seems likely from the recurrent dates and phrasing that some kind of collective discussion and decision-taking had taken place to coordinate refusal of forced transfers from non-combatant to fighting units, so that this episode (or series of events) forms part of the recovered history of resistance to militarism during the war. It would be interesting to know whether these men's defiance was sparked off by one or two individuals, with others joining in solidarity, or incited by the more committed and politically active, whether they were planned or ad hoc and so on - too late to  find out from the participants, unless any have left family stories or other testimony. 

It would also be interesting to know more about the motivation for the sudden overriding of the terms of their enlistment, after years of service. Perhaps it had something to do with the volatile situation in Egypt, which was to erupt in 1919? By then most of the refusers were moving on, one way or another, apart from three who would never get their lives back in any form.


The inscription is headed by the name of his mother, Elizabeth Tiller, who died in 1925.

It looks as though she had asked to be buried with her son, and thus ensured that he would have a memorial.

.

Friday, February 1, 2019

Update on some Radical History (Re)sources in London

LSHG


With the continuing dispute at Senate House over outsourcing of support workers (see our statement here) the immediate future of the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research is under review. 

However the London Socialist Historians Group will, of course, continue and will be looking to run events during the year whether at Senate House or elsewhere. 

The original aim of the LSHG was not just to be socialist historians within the academy but to be activists outside it too. We have kept broadly to that perspective but I think in 2019 we do need to look at renewing the link. 

Those with long memories, or access to appropriate archives, will recall that some years ago the LSHG used to have a banner. Made by the pre-eminent maker of labour movement banners, Ed Hall, it depicted the fight for women’s suffrage. It featured in several banner exhibitions as well as being a regular presence on demonstrations. 

I have to report that its current whereabouts are, at best, unknown. For that reason I think it’s more than time that a new London Socialist Historians banner was commissioned. The first question of course is what should be depicted on it. Watch out for details about how this will be decided shortly! (We will obviously seek to canvass opinion widely). 

Once decided, I hope we can get it done by early summer. It will be not just to gaze at but to actually carry on demonstrations and protests as well. 

Given the number of those who attend the seminars at the IHR that I have seen in 2018 on demonstrations such as that against Trump in the summer and the Stand Up to Racism protests against Stephen Yaxley Lennon and Co. later in the year I’m hoping this will not be a problem. 

As E.P. Thompson had it in the 1980s: PROTEST AND SURVIVE.
---------------------------------
MORE ON THIS STORY

Press release - 7 February 2019

The London Socialist Historians Group, which has organised the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in central London for 25 years, says it regrets the decision by the Institute of Historical Research and Birkbeck's Department of History, Classics and Archaeology to proceed with a launch of Richard J Evans new biography of Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm at the University of London’s Senate House on Thursday.
Outsourced workers, members of the IWGB, who are in dispute with the University had asked the organisers to move the venue in support of a boycott of Senate House and related central University buildings which is supported by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell amongst many others.

The socialist history seminar at Senate House is suspended in support of the IWGB boycott.
The historians say that they hold Richard J Evans, who has spoken at socialist history seminars at Senate House in the past, in the highest regard and don’t doubt his biography of Eric Hobsbawm officially published on 7th February is both highly competent and very interesting on the historian’s life, work and politics. However they consider the decision not to move the book launch despite reasonable notice to be regrettable.

LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said: Eric Hobsbawm was one of the great post-1945 Marxist historians whose work focused on the labouring poor and their struggles against capital. To hold a launch of a biography of his life and work at a location that is the subject of a boycott by outsourced workers is not something any socialist should feel comfortable with.

=========================
HOUSMANS
Housmans, Peace House, 
5 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, 
London N1 9DX

SPECIAL BOOK SALE
From Saturday 26th January we shall be putting out for sale the library of Bernard Franks, very kindly donated to Housmans by his estate. The collection is primarily made up of Marxist and, often rare, historical tomes.
Bernard was self-educated and wrote on many subjects, including a lengthy work on the French Revolution (there are many books on the Revolution in his collection).  His comrade Phil Edwards has written more about his life below.
As ever we endeavour to keep the prices of such books as cheap as possible – the vast majority are on sale at £1, while a few are at £3 and £5. The books are available from our second-hand basement.
======================
NATIONAL ARCHIVES, KEW 
SPECIAL EVENT 

LGBTQ+ history and collections at the Bishopsgate Institute 

Friday 8th March 18:30 – 20:30 
AT The National Archives, Bessant Drive (end of Ruskin Avenue), Richmond TW9 4DU

Bishopsgate Institute has been documenting the history and lives of the LGBTQ+ Community in the UK since 2011, when it became home to the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive; a national collection of over 300,000 press cuttings from the straight press covering all aspects of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer experience from the late nineteenth century to the present.
It now also holds the archive collections of organisations such as Stonewall, Switchboard, GMFA: The Gay Men's Health Charity, Outrage!, and the UK Leather Archive, along with the records of various individuals including Paris Lees & Sue Sanders/Schools Out/LGBT History Month.
We celebrate LGBT History Month with this talk by Stef Dickers, Special Collections and Archives Manager at the Bishopsgate Institute, who will delve into the amazing stories, experiences and vibrancy behind the rich LGBTQ+ collections held by the Bishopsgate Library.
*****************

Workshop - How to use pauper letters

Friday 8 February 2019  10:30 – 13:30
AT The National Archives, Bessant Drive (end of Ruskin Avenue), Richmond TW9 4DU

In this workshop, Dr Paul Carter (The National Archives) will work his way through letters and petitions from the poor during the 19th century which are held at The National Archives.
Paul will demonstrate why these letters were created, how they are arranged within the collection and most importantly, how to use them for your own research benefits. 

In Their Own Write is a three-year, AHRC-funded project, running from 2018 to 2021, which uses letters from paupers and other poor people, and associated manuscript material such as petitions, sworn statements and advocate letters (those written on behalf of paupers) to investigate the lives of the poor between 1834 and 1900.

It is run jointly by The National Archives at Kew and the Department of History at the University of Leicester.
===================
October 2018 to July 2019 - Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
"This landmark, critically acclaimed installation including film, sound, historical photographs and album artwork in the upstairs mezzanine area examines 100 years of black British music with a timeline marking the most important events – musical, political and social – that influenced the innovators who revolutionised British music. # A tribute to the incredible power of London’s dynamism and the dogged persistence of DIY musical creativity."
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Reminder:
Haringey Local History Fair 2019
 Saturday 16th February
11am- 4.30pm
Featuring stalls set up by local groups* with an interest in the history, social history, natural history and architecture of Haringey ... also groups and individuals with a special project each year, and a talks programme.
(*Including RaHN stall with a wide selection of our publications and information sheets) 
Haringey Local History Library and Archives
Bruce Castle Museum
Lordship Lane
London N17 8NU

Phone: 020 8808 8772
Fax:  020 8808 4118
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ALSO ON Saturday 16th February:



    Leaflet available in Housmans bookshop